Kissing this woman felt like the most natural thing in the world. Like home.

A monsoon of physical attraction rushed through him. Tom knew what it was like to be in a desert. He’d served two tours in Afghanistan, on the ground and taking care of the helos. He’d stood with an AR strapped to his shoulder and watched helos whip sand into his face. He’d fought when he’d had to. He’d waited in the desert for hours, days, dreaming of water. One time, he’d seen an actual mirage. He’d seen the palm trees and the spring. He’d run toward it. His buddies had to hold him back.

Luckily, supplies had come, and he’d drunk. In fact, he’d been sick from drinking so much. That was the key to rehydrating after being in the desert. Go slow. It took discipline to learn that skill.

As he held this woman and felt her respond to him, his control slipped. Snaking an arm around her waist, he pulled her flush against him.

The memory of every kiss he’d shared with her flooded him. All he’d ever wanted to do was be next to her, kissing her, for the rest of his life. It was the thing he’d pushed into the deep recesses of the “don’t go there” mental box. Now, it was coming out.

A slight moan escaped her lips. The moan only encouraged him, and he found himself pushing her back forcefully, with the hand not around her waist. He shook his head. “We need some space.”

Her eyes flashed open, and the memory of those soft green eyes surged through him. How many times had he seen those eyes in his dreams? How long had it taken him to get those eyes out of his head? Yet here they were again, and he didn’t know if he would ever recover.

She looked stunned. Then she dropped her arms from him and took a step back. “I’m sorry.”

He recovered, pulling his arms back and sucking in a breath. “I told you to quit saying that.” His heart hammered, every part of him only wanting to pull her back in and kiss her again. It’d been less than five hours since Emily Times had come back into his world, and already all the walls he’d built over the last ten years had come crashing down. This woman was a Scud Missile he hadn’t seen coming.

“This was a bad idea,” she said, letting out a breath and touching her lips before looking at her fingers like she couldn’t believe they’d just done that.

He ran a hand through his hair and scoffed. Here he was, back at ground zero. Like the last ten years meant nothing.

She took a step back. “I never should have asked you to be my date.”

Dang, she shouldn’t have if she wasn’t ready to have him back in her life, and he didn’t know if she was or not. He was getting all these mixed signals. Was he ready for her?

“I’ll—” She broke off. “Thank you for offering, Tom.” She said his name like it was part of an affidavit. “I think I’ll just fare on my own.”

“Being the pitied loser?” The question was out before he’d known he would say it.

Sharply, she met his gaze. “What?”

He could tell she was annoyed. Maybe that’s what he wanted. Heaven knew, in regards to this woman, he was tired of not getting what he wanted. “Your words, not mine.” He had settled into deliberate calmness, like he was investigating a fire and needed to make a report. “Here’s the deal. Will left because he insisted I have time with you.”

His words held in the air, and she frowned.

“So that leaves me on the island with all these excursions that are paid for, and they’re for two. And I’m not going to be the only Kent brother who has to vacation by himself.”

Her eyes fluttered. “Oh.”

Tom sighed, rubbing his lips. Already he missed kissing her. “No backing out on me a second time, Ems. No breaking your word again. I’ll do the rehearsal dinner and dancing and wedding with you tomorrow, but I need you to do the excursions with me.”

Emily stared back at him, her expression teetering between understanding and confusion.

That kiss wasn’t a pity kiss, he realized, and it had cleared his mind. “I think you owe me that much after everything, Ems. Don’t you?”